A Proud Janeite

I’m participating this month in the annual event Austen In August, even more full of Jane-goodness this year as it carries on for an entire month instead of its traditional two weeks. I highly recommend stopping by and enjoying the posts, giveaways, read/watch-alongs, and other bits of goodness that Misty, The Book Rat, so beautifully orchestrates, like the roundtable conversations. I have lent my voice to these discussions many times and am always surprised and delighted by the finished product, which is dependably hilarious. This year she asked a bonus question about when we realized we were Janeites. It got me thinking.

I am a proud Janeite. I embrace the term with love because I feel a personal bond with Austen unlike that which I have experienced with any other writer. Her characters are like real people I know. For a while, I thought I was just crazy (not a new revelation), until I began to meet others just as over-the-moon for Jane as myself. When I encounter another Janeite, I recognize them by their eyes: there’s a sparkle, rivaling Lizzy’s, of irrepressible excitement as we begin to talk about the novels. Finding other Janeites, discovering JAFF, and immersing myself in this world brought renewed meaning and purpose to my life at a time when I was feeling pretty lost. Jane Austen and her followers saved me.

OK, yeah, it sounds a little cult-like, but so what? If you look up Janeite on Wikipedia you’ll find a tidy little essay on why and how the term is derisive, cobbled together from the works of Deidre Lynch and Claudia L. Johnson. Should you wish to be assured that being called Janeite is at least better than being called a Trekkie, because it describes an obsessive fascination based on high culture, then it is an excellent read.

(Full disclosure: I’m pretty comfortable with the Trekkie designation, too. Star Trek isn’t as important a part of my like as Austen, but I’m pretty ecstatic to see more of my favorite captain in the newly announced series.)

As I replied to Misty, I became a Janeite long before I knew the term. I was also inspired to write by Austen long before I knew there was a nascent genre dedicated to the same muse. Years ago – I might have it stored on a disk somewhere – I wrote a short story about a woman who had gone completely mad. No one understood that she was talking to a fully visualized Anne Elliot all the time. Thinking back on it, I recognize how lonely and isolated I was in my obsession to have produced such a tale. The Madness of Mr. Darcy, the story’s distant descendant, is a book born of community, for all its darkness. How fortunate I was to have discovered other Janeites, befriended them, and been embraced in return! My latest book, Being Mrs. Bennet(which also traces its roots back to this forgotten story), is about a very capable, not at all crazy Janeite. Here’s how she explains it to Elizabeth:

Elizabeth lowered herself into a seat, considering the ramifications. “If we are only figments of your imagination, then we shall simply cease to exist.”

“Do not be ridiculous. Of course you will still exist, as much as you ever did.”

“Within the pages of a book,” she said deprecatingly.

“And in the minds and hearts of millions of people like me,” Alison assured her.

“Forgive me if I do not find that terribly comforting.”

“Why ever not? You are both immortal and so much more, way beyond anything which we mere readers can even properly conceptualize. In movies and countless sequels, prequels, and complete reimaginations, you all live on.”

Elizabeth lifted a brow. “I have not heard you mention such ongoing adventures before.”

“You would be amazed and probably horrified at some of the scenarios in which you have been cast,” she laughed.

“Can there be anything more wretched than the knowledge of my own unreality? All this” — Elizabeth gestured about her — “is nothing. Meaningless. Does it even matter if you wake up and we all vanish?”

12 Responses to A Proud Janeite

What a delightful post. I had never heard the term Janeite before. I didn’t know there were places where people congregated for the purpose of discussing Jane Austen and her classic books. Then to discover JAFF and all the variations, re-imaginings, sequels, prequels, side stories and all the other styles and types of books inspired by Jane Austen. It simply blows my mind. Thanks for the excerpt. Blessings on the success of this work.

Thank you. It’s an amazing revelation, isn’t it? For the first ten years or so of my enjoyment of Austen, the only people I knew who had read her books were teachers. None of my peers seemed to have the slightest interest in 19th century literature. Then to learn how many people of a like mind had come together and organized themselves was remarkable. This book, in many ways, could be read as an ode to that community.

Enjoyed your excerpt ( and love all your books). I became a Janeite at 13 and a Trekkie at 23 and am always so excited to learn if someone who shares my
obsessions – oops – interests, I mean interests…

Enjoyed the excerpt. I am so glad to find this community as I have never met a fellow Janeite in person. I laughed when you mentioned you are both a Janeite and a Trekkie though since both my mother and my husband are in this group and sadly I can’t get either of them interested in Jane Austen which for my mother I find ironic since she shares Jane’s birthday.

Meta

Blog Stats

Copyright

Austen Authors is hosted, funded, and managed by Sharon Lathan, Novelist. Co-Administrator is Regina Jeffers, Novelist. General content of the Austen Authors blog is owned by the administrators; blog posts, original writings, and novel excerpts are owned by and copyrighted to the individual author and, if applicable, the author's publishing company. Written permission from the Austen Authors administrators or the individual author must be obtained in order to legally copy and reproduce any content from this website.

All images, references, quotes, links, etc. are copyrighted to their respective owners and provided here only for enhancement of our blog posts. No copyright infringement is intended. To contact administrators for copyright queries, email at: admins@austenauthors.com Thank you.